In recent years, clinical studies have affirmed the ability of oatmeal and oat bran to reduce blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and generally reduce the long term risk of hart disease.
In recognition of these well-established benefits, in 1996 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted manufacturers/packagers of oatmeal the right to make specific health claim about this food, stating that diets high in oat meal or oat bran may reduce the risk of heart disease.
It was the first permissible health claim ever accorded to a food by the FDA, an agency that generally has favored drugs over natural substance.
In 1995, researchers at John Hopkins, in Baltimore, Maryland, reported that people who regularly consumed even a modest portion of oatmeal (one ounce cooked daily) had lower blood pressure and cholesterol readings than those who never ate oatmeal.
The study was based in the evaluation of 850 men, 17 – 77 years old living in China; their oatmeal consumption was 25 – 90 g daily.
The researchers stated that “the higher the oats intake, the lower the blood pressure,” regardless of other factors such as age and weight or alcohol sodium, or potassium intake, which are known to affect blood pressure.
According to researcher, it is oatmeal’s high content of water soluble fiber (beta glucan) that can produces the heart benefits.
A six-year study involving 22,000 middle-aged Finnish males showed that consuming as little as 3 g daily of soluble fiber (from the beta glucan fiber component of oats, barley or rye) reduce the risk of death from heart disease by 27%.
Oatmeal for Your Heart
